GHANA · JOBS
Key Facts
- The country Ghana is a West African democracy of about 34 million people, led by President John Mahama.
- What happened Ghana’s statistics office says unemployment averaged 32.4% among ages 15 to 24 in early 2025.
- The wider group Among ages 15 to 35 the rate averaged 21.9%, against 12.8% nationally.
- The scale About 12 million Ghanaians were aged 15 to 35 in 2025, roughly one in three.
- The catch Nearly 2 million young people were neither working nor studying in the third quarter of 2025.
Ghana youth unemployment topped 32% for people aged 15 to 24 in the first nine months of 2025, the Ghana Statistical Service says. The agency published the figure in a new yearly report, Ghana in Numbers, 2025, which it has put on its website.
For US readers, the number shows how many young people in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies still cannot find work. The agency says about 12 million Ghanaians are now between 15 and 35, the largest youth population in the country’s history.
Ghana Youth Unemployment in the Official Data
The Ghana Statistical Service, known as GSS, is the government agency that counts the country’s people, prices and jobs. Its new report gives Ghana youth unemployment a central place.
Unemployment averaged 32.4% among people aged 15 to 24 during the first three quarters of 2025. For the wider youth group aged 15 to 35, the average was 21.9%.
The national average across all ages was 12.8%, so young jobseekers were far more likely to be without a job. A person counts as unemployed when they have no work but are available for it and looking for it.
The jobless figures come from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, a household survey the GSS runs four times a year. The agency published the national average of 12.8% for the first three quarters of 2025 on Friday 19 December 2025.
Ghana in Numbers, 2025
Ghana in Numbers, 2025 is a new yearly flagship publication from the GSS. It gathers official statistics on population, the economy, society, governance and the environment in one volume.
The GSS says the report asks whether Ghana’s large youth population is matched by the schooling, skills and work that young people need. Future editions will track youth unemployment, informal work and how well schooling matches jobs.
The publication and its data are free on the GSS website, in its online database called StatsBank and in its Stats App. Readers can also find a shorter pocket edition on the same site.
Young Ghanaians Outside Work and School
The report also counts young people who are neither employed nor in education or training, a group known by the abbreviation NEET. Their rate averaged 17.9% among people aged 15 to 35 during the first three quarters of 2025.
In the third quarter alone, close to 2 million people aged 15 to 35 were in this group. Women made up more than 60% of them.
The NEET rate was 20.6% in towns and cities and 18.0% in rural areas. It reached 25.3% in the Central Region, the coastal region west of Accra.
Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, who heads the GSS, said the labour figures should be read together. He described the NEET group as close to 2 million young people, more than six in ten of them women.
Jobs That Do Not Match the Training
About 65% of employed young people said their skills fitted their jobs, the GSS reports. Only 58% said their level of education matched what the job required.
More than 70% of all jobs in Ghana were informal, the report says. Informal work means jobs without a written contract, steady pay or legal protection, such as street trading or casual labour.
The GSS therefore argues that Ghana youth unemployment is not only about whether a person works. It is also about whether the work uses their training and offers stable, protected employment.
A Window That Is Closing
The share of Ghanaians aged 0 to 14 fell from 41.8% in 2000 to 35.0% in 2025, while the youth share stayed near 35%. Ghana now has roughly as many people aged 15 to 35 as children under 15.
A young population can speed up growth when many working-age people are healthy, skilled and employed. Economists call that payoff a demographic dividend, and high Ghana youth unemployment puts it at risk.
The report says Ghana’s demographic window opened in the early 2000s and has been narrowing since 2019. Dr. Iddrisu put it plainly: “Ghana’s youth window is open, but it is closing.”
He added that choices on schooling, skills and jobs over the next ten years will decide whether it becomes a dividend or a burden. For more on who lives in the country, see our explainer on Ghana’s population.
What It Means for US Readers
Ghana is a steady West African economy, and jobs for its young people will shape its politics and appetite for foreign investment. Our overview of who runs Ghana’s economy explains the main players.
The report does not break down the 15 to 24 group by schooling or by how long people have searched. It also does not say how many of those jobseekers have given up looking.
The report does not set out how many young jobseekers the government expects to reach with new programmes. The next edition of Ghana in Numbers will show whether the trend improves.
What Is Not Known
The 32.4% is an average of the first three quarters of 2025, and the report gives no figure for the fourth quarter. It also does not show how Ghana youth unemployment has moved in 2026.
The report does not break down the 15 to 24 group by schooling or by how long people have searched. It also does not set out what the government plans to do about Ghana youth unemployment.
No government response to the Ghana youth unemployment figures has been published. The next edition of Ghana in Numbers will show whether the trend improves.
More: Ghana news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Ghana youth unemployment rate?
The Ghana Statistical Service says it averaged 32.4% for people aged 15 to 24 in the first three quarters of 2025. For ages 15 to 35 it averaged 21.9%.
How does that compare with the national rate?
The national rate averaged 12.8% over the same period. Ghana youth unemployment is therefore well above the rate for the wider labour force.
How many young people live in Ghana?
About 12 million Ghanaians were aged 15 to 35 in 2025, roughly one in every three people. That is the largest youth population in the country’s history.
What does NEET mean?
NEET stands for not in employment, education or training. The GSS counted close to 2 million people aged 15 to 35 in this group in the third quarter of 2025.
Where does the data come from?
The figures come from the Ghana Statistical Service, mainly its Quarterly Labour Force Survey and the new publication Ghana in Numbers, 2025. The report is free on the agency’s website.
Sources: Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana in Numbers 2025, 31 October 2026; Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana in Numbers publications, 31 October 2026; Ghana Statistical Service, Quarterly Labour Force Survey report, first three quarters of 2025, 19 December 2025.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief